211 
other organisms, and (2) that they have come in contact with 
those organisms which they are supposed to resemble.” * 
Dr. Seemann was no evolutionist, and I the more lament 
his loss. This being the case, his observations may be dismissed 
as unworthy of attention by the class of minds I have referred 
to, but must, I think, be considered conclusive by those capa- 
ble of understanding the force of sound argument. ^ 
Moreover, the resemblance is sometimes such as imme- 
diately to strike our fancy, but to be of no possible advantage 
to the plant or animal. It is sufficient to point to two plants 
under my own observation, the butterfly orchis and the bird- 
headed aristolochia, as illustrations of this. I have before me 
a leaf-insect, which I received in a live state, green and fresh, 
but which now represents sufficiently the faded leaf. But this 
is not all. The egg from which the creature originated (and 
of which I have also a specimen) is so wrapped up in its 
integument as perfectly to resemble a seed , carrying out thus 
the mimicry to its full extent. 
Harmony and what is called “ mimicry in Nature ” are not 
to be reconciled with Darwinism. 
Soul in Organized Nature. 
My attention was first called to the subject of the unfolding 
of apparent intelligence in Nature when, as a youth, I amused 
myself with cultivating plants in my father’s conservatory. 
Especially the production of adventitious roots f called my 
thoughts to the fact of some apparent power in Nature to 
meet emergencies; as in the case of a particular plant from the 
Cape, to provide against the fall of a tall stem by stays on 
every side — an arrangement which is much more strikingly 
seen in some trees, as in the palm of the Sechelles, in which 
they resemble the shrouds of a ship, and are indispensable 
to guard against the influence of the fearful hurricanes often 
sweeping over those islands. 
The subject has at times occupied my thoughts ever since, 
and I still wait for the explanation. If I see my way at all 
towards a solution of the real mystery of Nature, it must fol- 
low that the mechanical-universe-mongers have entirely missed 
their way, and have not so much as lifted a corner of the veil 
of the mighty mother. J 
It is only of late that we have ascertained that matter is not 
the only materia used in building up the universe, for we have 
* Gardeners' Chronicle, June 27, 1868. Journal of Botany, p. 213. 1868. 
t See an example of these in plate, Crystallisation and Life, p. 27. 
I See Plutarch’s Dc Isid. et Os., page 28 : Inscription in front of the temple 
of Isis. 
